Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.

Saturday, 20 August 2016

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed on Friday his confidence that Hezbollah will emerge victorious from any Zionist war on Lebanon, highlighting that the divine support and the military preparations enable the Resistance to keep triumphant.

In an interview with Al-Manar TV channel, Sayyed Nasrallah said that during 2006 war, popular resistance fought one of the most powerful armies in the world and achieved the victory which violates all the natural laws, adding that Holy God supported the mujahidin according to His Promise.

His eminence noted that a large part of the Lebanese government and a number of Arab and regional countries sided with the Zionist entity during 2006 war, providing it with the political, media and military support in order to crush the Resistance.

The military force used by the Zionist entity against Hezbollah in 2006 was larger than that ‘Israel’ employed during all the Arab-Israeli wars, the Resistance leader added.

Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that after the Israeli defeat in 2000 marked the first Arab victory which was morally and militarily pure, adding that some Lebanese factions felt sad for the Israeli loss and repeated the same experience in 2006.

“Some Lebanese and Arab sides bet on the Zionist victory in 2006.”

Hezbollah leader said that a European embassy contacted Hezbollah during July’s war to assert that only the Lebanese government wanted the Zionist enemy to continue its war against Lebanon in order to defeat the Resistance.

“In 2006 Israel agreed on holding the ceasefire agreement, but some Lebanese factions and Arab regimes insisted on disarming Hezbollah before ending the war. Do they consider Israel as an enemy? Does the dignity of the Umma and al-Quds mean anything to them? They do have different calculations.”

Those parties and regimes even deny via their media outlets that Hezbollah defeated Israel in 2006 despite the Zionist acknowledgement in this concern, Sayyed Nasrallah said.

His eminence added that Hezbollah has been always preparing to face any Zionist aggression, noting the Syrian military support to the Resistance.

Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that Hezbollah fighters performed their divine duty and the people were confident that the Resistance would emerge victorious, yet that the Zionist enemy was frightened and confused since the beginning of the war, which marked Holy God’s capability.

Sayyed Nasrallah clarified that the political system in Lebanon is corrupted adding that the ruling class is corrupted and its components have looted the country’s fortunes and desperately preserve their authority positions.

Sayyed Nasrallah said that after July’s war and unlike the victorious parties in the world, Hezbollah did not seek power in Lebanon for that may have caused a civil war which is worse than the political corruption.

His eminence pointed out that the media outlets supported by the Gulf and the West distort Hezbollah image by circulating that the Hezbollah is a group of drug traffickers and money launderers and that the Secretary General’s son died at a night club, stressing that the party cares exclusively about the Resurrection Day when the real truths will be displayed.

Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated Hezbollah’s commitment to the national unity and forming a unified government with all the Lebanese factions, including al-Mustaqbal movement because nations cannot be built amid hatred.

Sayyed Nasrallah stated that the most remarkable scene during July’s war was the people’s steadfastness, tranquility and political awareness which made them fantastically go back to their villages on August 14, 2006, which formed one of the basic features of the victory.

“Nowadays, the southerners enjoy a peace and prosperity, thanks to the Resistance sacrifices, while the Zionists are building fences along the Lebanese-Palestinian border for their fear of Hezbollah.”

People challenged all the threats and courageously went back to their villages, according to Sayyed Nasrallah who added that Holy God helped them to frustrate the scheme of keeping them displaced.

Sayyed Nasrallah confirmed that after July’s war, he visited the South and Bekaa, adding that he enjoys a normal life as he receives political delegations and friends, and stressing that he is not hiding at a basement.

His eminence noted that Hezbollah commanders and their families as well as all people faced July’s war patiently, which assisted them to defeat the enemy.

The Zionist estimations indicate that any Israeli war against Hezbollah would be adventurous and that the striking Iran is not beneficial, so the decision to attack Syria was taken, according to Sayyed Nasrallah.

“July war was aimed at eliminating the resistance in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, and eventually isolating Iran,” Nasrallah pointed out.

Sayyed Nasrallah stated that Syria has been targeted for it used to provide Hezbollah with homemade missiles, adopted the Resistance option, and rejected to abandon the Palestinian cause.

“What is going on in Syria is a form of revenge and a continuation of July’s war and President Assad is one of the main obstacles that face the US scheme, the New Middle East.”

Sayyed Nasrallah considered that the speech of Donald Trump, the US candidate for presidency, embarrassed President Barack Obama and obliged him to eradicate ISIL, which lets the axis of controls the region.

Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Lebanese army stuck to its patriotic creed during 2006 war, sacrificed scores of its soldiers and supported the Resistance in the battlefield, but that PM Fad Siniora wanted the army to disarm and clash with Hezbollah.

“Siniora ordered the Army to confiscate the trucks which used to move Hezbollah missiles from Bekaa to the South, revealing that the party’s leadership, President Lahoud and Speaker Berri threatened the PM to undo his orders.”

“The Lebanese army has all the weaponry, equipment and human conditions to defeat the terrorists in Arsal barrens, nut the political decision of the government is not resolute.”

“The other party claims that the Lebanese army can confront the Zionist aggression but says that it cannot defeat the terrorists in Arsal barrens.

Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the Lebanese army can defeat the terrorists in Arsal barrens, but that Nusra Front has allies in the Lebanese government.

Hezbollah leader said that the takfiri scheme cannot survive in the region for it is rejected by all groups, adding that no one can live under ISIL ruling.

Sayyed Nasrallah emphasized that Hezbollah has gained a vast military experience from Syria war, which frightens the Zionists and will help the Resistance in its Galilee operation.

“If Hezbollah emerged from 2006 war a regional force, it will emerge from Syria crisis an international force.”

Sayyed Nasrallah considered that if Turkey blocks its border with Syria, most of the crisis would be ended as the military and human support to the terrorists would be stopped, adding the pro-terrorism states plan to get rid of all the gunmen after the end of their missions.

“The former Saudi security official Bandar bin Sultan visited Moscow to convince Putin to send terrorists from Chechnya and Dagestan to fight the Syrian army in order to kill them there.”

Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that the deal according to which the Zionist entity was established includes the Arab kings who are charged with protecting Israel, adding that the Arab militaries have been always powerful, except for the regimes which ban fighting the Zionists.

“If chaos pervades in the region and the Arab regimes collapse, people will certainly wipe out the Zionist entity, liberate Palestine and pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Sayyed Nasrallah confirmed the solid relations with the Palestinian resistance factions, saying that Palestine is grander than all the other causes.

“I think that the resistance factions cannot accept the normalization of the relations with the Zionist entity.”

About the Islamic unity, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the situation is not tragic, noting that what is going on in Syria is not a Sunni-Shiite confrontation as scores of those who fight for the Army are Sunnis.

“Who liberated Fallujah are the Sunni tribal forces. But the Gulf media has sought classifying the battle as sectarian.”

Sayyed Nasrallah considered that Syria crisis pervades awareness, exposes the mean and prepares the Umma for the major victory of liberating Palestine.

Israel is facing a strategic dilemma after defeating its scheme, according to Sayyed Nasrallah who expected that the Zionists flee the Palestine as they did when they escaped from Lebanon in 2000.

“The US and Zionist schemes will fail to involve the Arab people in confronting the Resistance, which will eradicate the Zionist enemy.”

Tackling media siege imposed on Al-Manar TV, Sayyed Nasrallah vowed to break it, asserting Hezbollah channel will keep performing its major duties via all the technological means, eliminating the possibility of renaming the outlet due to its symbolic and historical position.

The Turkish parliament on Saturday approved a deal to normalize ties with the Zionist entity after a delay caused by last month’s attempted coup, state-run media reported.

Lawmakers ratified the agreement to restore relations after a six-year rift before parliament was due to go into summer recess.

Under the deal, Tel Aviv will pay Ankara $20 million (17.7 million euros) in compensation for the 2010 raid by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship that left 10 Turks dead, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

The Israeli government will hand Turkey a “lump sum” within 25 working days of the agreement coming into force, the agency said.

Under the terms of the deal, both sides agreed individual Israeli citizens would not be held liable — either criminally or financially — for the raid, Anadolu said.

Israeli cabinet ministers approved the deal with Turkey in June but Ankara did not send it to parliament because of time pressure after the July 15 attempted putsch by a rogue military faction.

Now the deal has been approved, the two countries are expected to begin the process of exchanging ambassadors to fully restore diplomatic ties.

The Syrian Air Force were in the air again Saturday over the flashpoint northeastern city of Hasakeh, despite a US warning against new strikes that might endanger its military advisers.

In another escalation of the five-year war, government planes this week bombarded positions held by US-backed Kurdish forces in the city fighting the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

The unprecedented strikes prompted the US-led coalition to scramble aircraft to protect its special operations forces helping the Kurdish fighters, warning the regime not to put the advisers on the ground at risk.

It was apparently the first time the coalition scrambled jets in response to regime action, and possibly the closest call yet in terms of Syrian forces wounding American or coalition advisers.

Throughout the night and into Saturday morning, regime warplanes took to the skies above Hasakeh again, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group.

It was not immediately clear whether the aircraft had carried out any bombing runs as there were heavy artillery exchanges on the ground.

Deadly clashes erupted between pro-government militia and the US-backed Kurdish forces on Wednesday.

The Observatory said there had been no let-up in the fighting, which has left 41 people dead, 25 of them civilians, including ten children.

“There were heavy clashes, artillery fire and rocket attacks throughout the night and ongoing in the morning,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Around two-thirds of Hasakeh is controlled by Kurdish forces, while the rest is held by pro-government militia.

The government and Kurdish forces share a common enemy in IS, which controls most of the Euphrates valley to the south, but there have been tensions between them in Hasakeh that have sometimes led to clashes.

– ‘Right of self-defence’ –

Thursday’s government raids were the first time the regime bombarded Kurdish positions from the air.

“We will ensure their safety and the Syrian regime would be well-advised not to do things that place them at risk… We view instances that place the coalition at risk with the utmost seriousness and we do have the inherent right of self-defence.”

But the Pentagon warning appeared to fall on deaf ears.

Two Syrian aircraft attempted to fly to the area again on Friday, but left “without further incident” after meeting coalition aircraft, a US defence official said in a statement.

“No weapons were fired by the coalition fighters.”

Davis said no coalition injuries were reported in Thursday’s strike by two Syrian SU-24s, and US advisers were moved to a safe location.

The coalition is now conducting additional combat air patrols in the region, he added.

– Air strikes ‘a message’ –

A Syrian military statement said the army had taken the “appropriate response” after Kurdish forces attacked Hasakeh.

The Observatory said thousands of inhabitants had begun to flee the city, where bread was running out and electricity has been cut.

A government source in Hasakeh told AFP that the air strikes were “a message to the Kurds that they should stop this sort of demand,” after Kurds called for the dissolution of a pro-regime militia.

Washington regards the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and has provided them with air support as well as the military advisers.

US special operations forces were based around six kilometres (nearly four miles) north of Hasakeh and reinforcements arrived Friday “from inside and outside Syria, accompanied by military helicopters”, Abdel Rahman said.

Heated arguments erupted on social media between pro-Nusra Front and pro-Ahrar al-Sham activists. Both sides trade accusations and blame each others for failure in the battlefield against rival Takfiir group, ISIL.

On their Twitter accounts, pro-Nusra coordination committees said Salamaeh doesn’t actually lead the battles, and that he lives in Turkey. These committees said Salameh is only interested to appear on media, accusing him of lying about fighting ISIL in Deir Ezzor more than two years ago.

“Before the battles with ISIL in al-Sharqiyah region, no one has known Hussam Salemeh,” said a pro-Nusra account.

These accounts said that Ahrar al-Sham Takfiri group has abandoned Nusra Front, noting that Ahrar al-Sham is led by a ‘hybrid generation’ who is obsessed with power and influence.

Other Nusra-Front accounts called for displacing Salameh and even killing him because of his “spite against al-Qaeda.”

Friday, 19 August 2016

Jewish groups both in the US and Canada are running a smear campaign against Green Party. The US Green Party has irked many pro-Israel Jewish groups by nominatingAjamu Baraka as party’s vice-presidential candidate. In Canada, B’nai B’rith and JNF are running a personal smear campaign against party’s shadow cabinet minister Dimitri Lascaris (listen to an interview below) over party’s BDS endorsement, and asking Ottawa to cancel the ‘charity status’ of the Jewish National Fund which funds illegal Jewish settlements in Occupied Palestine (here).

On August 11, 2016, Canadian Jewish writer, author, blogger, and human-rights activist, Yves Engler, in an article, entitled, ExposingCanadian Imperialism, blasted the Conservative party and Elizabeth May, leader of Green Party Canada for protecting racist JNF and supporting apartheid Israel.

“It’s as if there’s a sign hanging in Parliament that says: “foreign policy mythologizers only.” A maxim Elizabeth May seems to have embraced, to the shame of all Canadians who really do want this country to be a force for good in the world,” wrote Engler.

In addition to Green’s Elizabeth May, Engler criticized the so-called Canadian progressive voices such as Peggy Mason (Jewish) president of the Rideau Institute, and Gerald Caplan (Jewish), writer and the federal member NDP party.

As a blowback of the recentfailed CIA-Mossad regime change in Ankara Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern has threatened that if European Union members agreed over Turkey’s accession to EU, he would veto it.

Christian Kern’s second wife Eveline Steinberg is Jewish. He is considered very pro-Israel.

Anti-Islam Kemalist (Donmeh) leaders began the process of joining the EU against the wishes of Turkey’s Muslim majority (99%) in the 1960s.

On March 30, 2010, British journalist Baroness Patience Jane Wheatcroft, editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal explained why EU members are afraid to let Turkey in.

“Although the government of the country is secular, estimates put the proportion of the population which is Muslim at around 99%. Although religion is not the driving force it once was in large parts of Europe, there is a widespread belief that including an overwhelmingly Muslim country in the club would drastically change its character,”Wheatcroft said.

On June 22, 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan bluntly said Europe doesn’t want his country to join the EU because the majority of the nation’s population is Muslim. He said his government will ask the public whether negotiations with Brussels should continue.

“Europe, you don’t want us because the majority of our population are Muslim. We knew it but we tried to show our sincerity,”Erdogan said at a graduation ceremony in Istanbul.

In December 2010, UK’s newspaper Guardian reported that previously secret cables sent from the US embassy to the Vatican indicated that Pope Benedict XVI, a Zionist shill, was responsible for the Vatican’s growing hostility towards Turkey joining the EU.

According to YouGov’s latest Eurotrack survey, there is immense hostility to Turkey joining the European Union. Britain is the least hostile of all the EU countries with 67% against the Turkish entry into the EU. In other countries the opposition is: Denmark 82%, Finland 83%, France 74%, Germany 86% and Sweden 73%.

Austria’s all major political parties are pro-Israel and anti-Muslim (here,here).

Recently declassified 9/11 documents directly linked the Saudi Arabian government to the al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the September 11 attacks. Nevertheless, earlier this month, President Obama approved a weapons deal providing Saudi Arabia with over $1 billion in military equipment.

The deal also comes in the midst of a controversial conflict in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has killed thousands of innocent civilians with relentless airstrikes. As a result of the violence, the majority of the population in Yemen requires humanitarian aid, and hundreds of thousands face starvation.

A bipartisan effort in the senate has emerged to block the Obama administration from allowing this sale of weapons, given Saudi Arabia’s disastrous human rights record.

“I will work with a bipartisan coalition to explore forcing a vote on blocking this sale,” Sen. Rand Paul told Foreign Policy. “Saudi Arabia is an unreliable ally with a poor human rights record. We should not rush to sell them advanced arms and promote an arms race in the Middle East.”

In April, Paul introduced a resolution with Sen. Chris Murphy to limit US weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.

“I have yet to see evidence that the civil war we’re supplying and supporting in Yemen advances our national security,” Murphy said to The Hill. “The more it drags on, the clearer it becomes that our military involvement on behalf of the Saudi-led coalition is prolonging human suffering in Yemen and aiding the very groups that are intent on attacking us.”

Under a Hillary Clinton presidency, the United States government’s policy of enabling Saudi Arabia to conduct widespread human rights violations in Yemen and within its own borders will likely increase.

According to an International Business Times investigation, arms exports from the US to Saudi Arabia increased 97 percent under Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. Around the same time, the Saudi Arabian government donated $10 million to the Clinton Foundation. The Boston Globe’s editorial board recently called for the Clinton Foundation to freeze donations and shut down, as it is a conflict of interest so long as either Bill or Hillary Clinton are in public office or seeking public office.

The Podesta Group, founded by Clinton’s Campaign Manager, John Podesta, is also being paid $140,000 a month to lobby on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government.

In 2011, Clinton oversaw a $29 billion dollar deal which sent fighter jets to the Saudi Arabian government. Emails released from Clinton’s private server show Clinton’s staff celebrating the sale as “good news,” according to The Intercept.

In a separate batch of emails found on the server, Clinton and her close aide, Cheryl Mills, admitted that they hold Saudi Arabia to a different standard when it comes to speaking out against human rights violations.

During Obama’s first five years in office-four of which saw Clinton as secretary of state-the Obama Administration brokered $30 billion more in arms deals than George W. Bush did during his eight years in office.

In June 2016, Obama pushed Democrats in the House to join Republicans in voting down a measure which would have banned the sale of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia.

The Obama Administration’s record in arms deals is in part due to Clinton’s aggressive and interventionist foreign policy during her time at the State Department-often at the reprehension of other officials in the Obama Administration. These have included Vice President Joe Biden, War Secretary Robert Gates, and so-called National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, all of whom were opposed to intervention in Libya.

Clinton spread violence and military conflict around the world during Obama’s first term as president. Rather than enact any change in these policies-especially those favorable toward Saudi Arabia-President Hillary Clinton is likely to worsen them.

Donald Trump made a rare act of contrition Thursday, saying he regretted offending people with his harsh way of speaking.

The Republican nominee made the gesture at his first rally since ordering a shakeup in his campaign to save his struggling White House bid.

“Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing,” Trump told a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it,” he said, drawing laughs and applause from the crowd. “I do regret it. Particularly, where it may have caused personal pain.”

He added: “Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues, but one thing, I can promise you this, I will always tell you the truth.”

The New York billionaire’s multiple self-inflicted wounds of late have left him trailing in virtually every battleground state. One of the biggest missteps was clashing repeatedly with the parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq.

Critics accused him last week of inciting violence against his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in a remark about the right to bear arms, and media reports have swirled about a campaign in crisis and a candidate apparently incapable of reeling in crass remarks.

Clinton leads Trump 47 percent to 41.2 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, following weeks of errors that have alienated establishment Republicans and seen his own supporters tear their hair out.